United Nations Development Programme in the Arab States

UNDP chief calls for end to violence against women

07 Mar 2013

On International Women’s Day, Helen Clark Says Much Work Remains

New York — UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen
Clark called Friday for scaled-up efforts globally to stop violence
against women, calling it a weapon of war in much of the world and a
major obstacle to equality and development.

“Let’s mark International Women’s Day
this year not only by recognizing the devastating impact of violence
against women, but by renewing our collective efforts to stop it once
and for all,” she said in a statement.

The theme for International Women’s Day 2013 is “A promise is a
promise: Time for action to end violence against women.” It comes in the
wake of a brutal, highly publicized gang-rape in Asia that focused
unprecedented global attention on gender-based violence and sparked an
international outcry.

“It is now time for increased action to end this abuse. In 1995, at
the Fourth World Conference for Women, governments identified violence
against women as a violation of human rights and an ‘obstacle to the
achievement of the objectives of equality, development, and peace,”
Helen Clark said.

“But the persistent prevalence of violence against women—experienced
by up to seven in ten women at some point in their lifetime—shows that
promises to end violence against women have not been met,” she said,
calling for concerted efforts that bring together government, civil
society, law enforcement, and judicial systems.

“Preventing and eliminating violence against women requires
leadership and political will backed by action and resources,” she said.
“It requires the adoption and enforcement of national laws addressing
and punishing all forms of violence against women and girls. There is
much to be done in this regard. In more than 35 countries, marital rape
is not considered a criminal offense. More than 630 million women live
in countries where domestic violence is not yet considered a crime.”

Helen Clark also called for stepped-up efforts to prevent
gender-based violence from occurring in the first place, adding: “We
are also working to engage men and boys in efforts to prevent violence
against women, a key element of the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign to End Violence Against Women Campaign. “

“This fight is not just an important end in itself. Gender-based
violence is a means by which inequalities between men and women are
perpetuated throughout the world. As such, it is essential to address if
we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and accelerate development progress more broadly.”

Citing the last year of “shocking crimes” against women, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said that this year, “We convert our
outrage into action. We declare that we will prosecute crimes against
women—and never allow women to be subjected to punishments for the
abuses they have suffered.”

“Whether you lend your funds to a cause or your voice to an outcry,
you can be part of our global push to end this injustice and provide
women and girls with the security, safety, and freedom they deserve,” he
said in a statement.

Staggering costs

At least one-third of UNDP Country Offices are engaged in initiatives
for preventing and responding to gender-based violence, including in
crisis countries, where rape and sexual assaults are often used in as a
“tool of war” to humiliate and shame women and men.

Violence against women is both a human rights violation and an
impediment to sustainable development. Aside from significant health
consequences, it harms women and girls over the long-term in areas
ranging from education to employment and economic status, to
participation in politics.

In India a woman loses an average of at least five paid work days for
each incident of intimate partner violence, while in Santiago, Chile,
women who experience severe physical violence earn only 39 percent as
much as women who do not suffer abuse.

Many girls experience violence travelling to or in schools with multiple
repercussions including lower menthol rates, poor performance,
absenteeism, and high drop-out rates. This has long-term impact on their
future economic opportunities and contribution to their communities.

Research from Australia, Canada, England and Wales and the United States
suggests that the annual costs of such violence, including a range of
costs such as responses to survivors and lost productivity, varies from
US$1.16 billion to US$32.9 billion.

The costs are staggering for developing and middle-income countries as
well. In Chile, women’s lost earnings as a result of domestic violence
are estimated at US$1.56 billion or more than 2 percent of GDP. In
Uganda, the cost of domestic violence was estimated at US$2.5 million in
2007.

UNDP's work

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
UNDP’s Access to Justice Programme has helped strengthen the capacities
of police, judicial investigators, and prosecutors to work with victims
of sexual and gender-based violence and supported mobile courts to
bring justice services closer to communities.

In Paraguay, UNDP helped build police capacities to present
and respond to gender-based violence, including domestic violence and
trafficking. The support resulted in the development of safe spaces for
women in six police stations.

In Timor Leste, UNDP supported awareness-raising and training
of community leaders of the law on prevention of domestic violence,
resulting in improved access of women to justice, evidenced by increase
from 17 percent registered complaints in 2010 to 26 percent in 2011.

In Nepal, in 2012 UNDP continued to support greater access to
justice for survivors of sexual or gender-based violence through seven
legal aid desks operating in local police stations and offering legal
information and assistance. The desks provided help to more than 1,200
claimants, 526 of which were related to domestic violence

In Afghanistan, UNDP supported the establishment of a Human
Rights Support Unit in the Ministry of Justice to review legislation,
policy and practices on human rights compliance, resulting in
improvements to several legislative documents, including the Law on
Elimination of Violence Against Women. It also focused on the
recruitment of female police, training and capacity development of the
national police, and awareness-raising on gender issues.

In Southeast Europe, UNDP supported the establishment of the
Women’s Police Network, which brings together high-ranking police women
representing nine police services in Southeast Europe. The network
provides a platform for the exchange of experience and knowledge across
police services in the region on the status, needs and priorities of
police women.

In Iraq, UNDP supported five Family Protection Units, which
provide services to survivors of gender-based violence and engaged with
the government to develop relevant legislation. This contributed to
Iraq’s allocation of land for additional Family Protection Units, as
well as adoption of a domestic violence law in the Kurdistan region and
draft law in Iraq.

In Pakistan, UNDP strengthened and supported the development
of legislation against acid crimes by funding two implementing partners,
Acid Survivors Foundation and Social Organization for Care of Humanity,
to advocate and promote passage of the Acid Crime Control and
Prevention Bill through holding consultations with stakeholders.

In Kazakhstan, UNDP advocated for development and adoption of a
domestic violence law and related law on equal rights. UNDP also helped
implement gender mainstreaming of public resources at the local and
national levels.